NFIBs June Report says Small Business Owners continue to Create New Jobs & Increase Compensation
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Small business owners continue to report astounding optimism as they celebrate strong sales the creation of jobs and more profits. The first 6 months of the year have been very good to small business thanks to tax cuts regulatory reform and policies that help them grow" said
NFIB President & CEO Juanita Duggan (right.)
Since December 2016 the Index has averaged an unprecedented 105.4 well above the 45-year average of 98 and
Junes Small Business Optimism Index reading of 107.2 rivals the all-time high of 108.0 in July 1983. Highlights from the June report include:
- Owners reported some of the strongest nominal sales in years.
- Plans to invest in additional inventories advanced solidly.
- Plans to create new jobs posted a solid gain and the percent of owners with open positions tied the record high.
- Reports of compensation increases remained historically high and finding qualified workers easily held on to the top spot in the single most important business problem" list.
June is the 7th consecutive strong month of reported sales gains. Reports of sales increases were most frequent in manufacturing and the wholesale trades.
Small business owners are already seeing their bottom lines grow due to strong sales and regulatory relief and the new tax law is expected to push profits higher as the year progresses" said
NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.
- The frequency of reports of positive profit trends hit a record high in May maintaining one of the best readings in the surveys 45 year history.
- Additionally reports of positive sales trends have been historically strong for the past few months so owners have had to satisfy the strong sales demand by selling out of inventories.
- This produced an increase in the percent of owners planning to invest in new inventory stocks in the coming months.
The net percent of owners viewing current inventory stocks as too low" gained four points a very positive move. This confirms that the inventory reductions reported were indeed a result of strong sales not a result of a less certain future.
NFIBs June jobs report showed that
63 of owners reported hiring or trying to hire up five points from last month
and the highest level since September 1999. 87 percent of those hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
The NFIB Research Center has collected Small Business Economic Trends data with quarterly surveys since the 4th quarter of 1973 and has undertaken monthly surveys since 1986. Survey respondents are drawn from NFIBs membership. The report is released on the second Tuesday of each month.
